The Vicar's Relief Fund

The Vicar’s Relief Fund (VRF) is not a separate charity, but is part of the St Martin-in-the-Fields Christmas Appeal and is funded solely by donations that are made in response to the BBC Radio 4 Appeal.  The VRF receives approximately half of the money raised and the other half goes to The Connection at St Martin’s. 

The VRF uses the money carefully and makes grants throughout the year.  Some of it is used to make block grants to around 60 agencies spread across the United Kingdom.  These agencies include housing associations, hospital social work teams, tenancy support officers, substance misuse teams, charities working with vulnerable people, church social outreach programmes and a prison.  Each of these organisations is able to use the block grant in their local area, making crisis grants in situations that are known to the local workers.  At the end of the year they report back to the VRF as to how the block grant has been used.

The remainder of the money from the Christmas Appeal is used to make small, individual grants to people in need all over the country.
Our priority when allocating grants are to people:

• who are in danger of becoming homeless,
• who are currently homeless, destitute and/or vulnerable, and
• those attempting to establish or maintain a tenancy.

Although it is hard to define a ‘typical’ grant, our aim is to help provide the recipient with the ordinary necessities that many people take for granted.  We often respond to requests for items such as beds and bedding for families, clothing, domestic appliances, and arrears that have occurred through no fault of the client but may threaten them with eviction or other action. 

The fund is open to all regardless of ethnicity, religious affiliation, background, status, age or sexual orientation.

The amount of each grant varies according to need but is, on average, around £170, with an upper limit of £250.

A crisis usually calls for a quick response and we try to respond to applications within 3 or 4 working days.  Our aim is that in responding quickly with a small grant it will have a positive impact and help alleviate distress or avert the crisis.

We do not make grants to individuals who apply on their own behalf; as a small charity with limited resources, we rely on professionals to asses the level of need and, where appropriate make an application.  We do not normally make more than one grant per person or family in any twelve month period.

Applications are accepted on behalf of people or families in need from:

• social workers
• support workers in housing associations, hostels and refuges
• keyworkers in substance misuse rehabilitation centres
• CAB advisors
• probation officers
• CPNs, health visitors and other health professionals
• clergy, prison and hospital chaplains
• and staff in other voluntary organisations and caring/support agencies.

The VRF receives as many as 100 requests every week.  This would exhaust the fund long before the end of the financial year were we to make a grant in every case that met our criteria and would, of course, mean that we would not be able to respond to genuine priority requests for many months.  We have a duty, therefore, to budget our grant making in order to be able to meet needs throughout the year, which means that some requests have to be refused that otherwise meet our criteria.

Throughout the year, the VRF is able to make grants to approximately half the requests we receive and we try to ensure that grants are allocated according to priority and as equitably as possible across the country.

The VRF does not make grants for any of the following:

• Course fees and expenses
• Holidays, respite breaks and school trips
• Specialised equipment (eg wheelchairs, stairlifts, Motability schemes, etc)
• Medical treatments and prescription fees
• Passports, visas and asylum application fees
• Computer hardware and software
• Childcare expenses
• Toys, books and play equipment
• Structural or landscaping renovations
• Televisions, video and audio equipment, television license fees
• Administrative charges, fines and professional fees

In addition, although items such as carpeting, sofas and washing machines are technically eligible, in reality, due to the pressure of other requests, they are not normally considered to be a high enough priority to make a grant.
To request an application form, contact the VRF Administrator at:

6 St Martin's Place
LONDON
WC2N 4JJ
phone : 020 7766 1125/7
fax : 020 7389 0773
e-mail: craig.norman@smitf.org